Sports
The NFL‘s ambitious vision of seeing its brightest stars represent Team USA in the 2028 Olympic Games has hit a critical roadblock as team owners are not sold on the idea.
While flag football’s inclusion in the Olympics is largely due to the league’s heavy lobbying and promotional support, actual NFL player participation is far from a done deal.
In a segment recently aired by ESPN, NFL insider Peter Schrager laid out the internal struggle that’s now playing out behind the scenes.
On one hand, there’s enormous excitement within the league about the sport’s Olympic breakthrough. On the other hand, there are serious concerns – and they all boil down to risk.
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“There’s nothing that they’re higher on right now than flag football,” Schrager said of league executives.
The league has been front and center in promoting flag football globally, hoping to leverage the sport’s low-contact, high-speed format to expand football’s international footprint.
Flag football is considered more accessible and appealing to new markets, especially for younger fans and athletes, and the 2028 Games in Los Angeles would be the perfect stage to amplify that growth. But there’s one catch.
Owners fear nightmare scenarios
Despite the excitement, Schrager made one thing abundantly clear.
“Imagine there was a catastrophic injury… that happened to one of these NFL players before training camp… It would be a nightmare,” he said.
To manage that, the NFL is reportedly preparing to bring a proposal to the table at upcoming league meetings – a resolution that would allow just one player per team to participate in the Olympics.
This would significantly reduce overall exposure to injury while still giving the NFL a marketing foothold on the Olympic stage.
The NFL wants to continue leading flag football’s expansion into the global mainstream, and the Olympics offer an unmatched platform.
But unless owners are completely reassured that their investments – the players – will be protected physically and financially, the league may have to look to retired stars or fringe roster talent to represent Team USA instead.
This news was originally published on this post .
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